Steps to Take if You’ve Been in a Bike Accident | Preszler Law Toronto Injury Lawyer

In this informative video, personal injury lawyer Jeffrey Preszler from Preszler Injury Lawyers discusses the rising incidence of cycling accidents as more people choose to bike for various reasons. He explains the legal implications for cyclists involved in accidents, whether they are the injured party or the one at fault. If a cyclist collides with another cyclist, pursuing compensation can be challenging due to the lack of motor vehicle insurance. However, if a cyclist is injured in a collision with a car, they can access benefits through the driver's motor vehicle insurance. Preszler also addresses the impact of not wearing a helmet on liability and the absence of insurance requirements for cyclists in Ontario. For more personal injury inquiries, viewers are encouraged to contact Preszler Injury Lawyers at 1-800-JUSTICE.

Thank you, Liam. More and more people are choosing to travel by bike, either to avoid traffic congestion, get more exercise, or reduce their carbon footprint. Whatever the reason, an increase in cycling means a greater risk of collisions and injuries. So, what do you do if you get hurt or if you hurt someone else? Here to explain your rights is personal injury lawyer from Preszler Injury Lawyers, Jeffrey Preszler.

Good morning, Jeffrey. Thank you for having me again. It’s good to see you.

It is good to see you as well. We are trying to build more bike lanes, but we are playing catch-up a bit in this city when it comes to cyclists. You’ve been hearing about a lot of collisions in your office, right?

Yes, that’s correct. There’s been the development of these bike lanes on the Queens Quay, which recently opened about a month ago. They are great for the city; I’ve been down there with my family, and they’re fantastic. The problem is that there are a lot of people using them, and we’ve been getting a lot of calls at our office from cyclists who have been involved in accidents with other cyclists, as well as cyclists who have had incidents with cars cutting into driveways. There’s a real rise in accidents in that area of the city, at least from what we’ve seen in our office.

Let’s talk about both sides of the perspective. If you have two cyclists, what happens if you are the one who caused the accident or if you are the injured party?

If you have two cyclists and, let’s say, you are riding your bike and someone cuts into your lane, causing you serious injury, you obviously have the right to sue that person for causing the accident. The problem is that if it’s a cyclist, there’s no motor vehicle insurance involved because it doesn’t involve a motor vehicle. You would actually have to sue this person personally, which can be a difficult venture. It’s much easier if there’s insurance involved.

What can happen sometimes is that if a cyclist causes an accident with another cyclist, you can look to that person’s home insurance if you are going to sue them. Let me tell you, it’s much easier to deal with insurance companies in a lawsuit than it is when you are going after someone’s personal assets.

Now, if you collide with a car, what happens then?

If you collide with a car, even if you don’t actually hit the car—say you are going down one of those paths and a car cuts into you or is making a left turn, and you try to avoid the collision—if you are injured in an accident, you can actually pursue that person under their motor vehicle insurance policy. Not only that, but you would have access to what are called accident benefits, which include medical rehabilitation, physiotherapy, and chiropractic care. You could also apply for income replacement benefits if you are going to miss work because of your injuries. You can apply under the motor vehicle insurance policy of the person who caused the collision for those benefits.

What if you are riding your bike and you weren’t wearing a helmet? What happens then?

Those are really important factors if you are considering bringing a lawsuit against a motor vehicle that caused the accident. Now, not wearing a helmet is not going to be determinative, but it will factor into what’s called contributory negligence. This means that when a jury is looking at who caused the accident or who caused the injuries, they will consider that you weren’t wearing a helmet and that you didn’t have lights on your bicycle. Therefore, you could be found partially at fault for how the accident unfolded, and they would reduce your damages based on the percentage of fault they find you have as the cyclist.

Can you get insurance as a bike rider?

Actually, you cannot get insurance as a bike rider; it’s not a requirement in Ontario to have insurance while riding a bicycle. Even e-bikes do not require insurance.

Interesting. Thank you, Jeffrey Preszler, from Preszler Injury Lawyers, for dropping by. It’s always a pleasure to see you.

If you have any personal injury questions for Jeffrey and his team at Preszler Injury Lawyers, visit our Facebook page at facebook.com/morningshowto.

Now, let’s take a look at traffic. Here’s Kim.